Gearing up for women drivers

– Saudi Arabia’s first batch of women car accident inspectors are training to respond to incidents involving female drivers, who will be allowed to drive in the conservative Muslim kingdom starting tomorrow when a decades-old ban ends.

Forty women hired by private insurance company Najm attended a celebration in the capital Riyadh. All of them wore black abayas, the traditional loose-fitting robes, and most covered their faces as they lined up to receive symbolic diplomas.

Just days before women are set to hit the road, though, it was unclear when the trainees will be ready to start their new jobs and how they will navigate mixed-gender environments in a country where strict separation rules usually prevent women from interacting with unrelated men.

Sweeping social reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, twinned with an economic overhaul aimed at ending dependency on oil exports, are chipping away at traditional norms.

Much of the kingdom’s overwhelmingly young population supports the reforms, but many Saudis are concerned that changes are happening too fast and fear they could provoke a backlash from religious conservatives.

Social opening has also been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including the arrests over the past month of more than a dozen activists who had previously campaigned for the right to drive. –